Classy Sanjay Manjrekar reacts to being left out of IPL commentary team

The 2020 Indian Premier League was shifted back from 29th March to 15th April after the Govt of India issued a visa ban. The inaugural date was postponed so the foreign players wouldn’t be left out from the 13th edition of the blockbuster Indian cricket tournament. But, one significant figure of the Indian cricket scene has been left out of the event, and its none other than former international Sanjay Manjrekar, who was removed from the commentary panel by BCCI.

Sanjay Manjrekar has been the subject of ciriticism from the cricketing community in the past 12 months. From making controversial remarks to Team India superstar Ravindra Jadeja to a verbal feud with senior commentator Harsha Bhogle, Manjrekar has faced reprimand from pundits and supporters alike.

However, the ban came before the first match of the India vs South Africa One Day International series. Although the game at Dharamshala was whitewashed due to heavy rain, Manjrekar was left out of the BCCI commentary panel that was already present there.

Even after the whole series had to be postponed due to the virus pandemic, new reports have suggested that Manjrekar will not be a part of the commentary team selected for the IPL.

Following the news, the former batsman opened up on Twitter, not criticising BCCI, but respecting their judgement.

“I have always considered commentary as a great privilege, but never an entitlement. It is up to my employers whether they choose to have me or not & I will always respect that,” Manjrekar tweeted.

“Maybe BCCI has not been happy with my performance of late. I accept that as a professional,” the 54 year old added.

After his retirement from all forms of cricket in 1998, Manjrekar joined the profession of cricket commentator soon after. However, in his career with the BCCI commentary panel spanning more than a decade, its the first time that Manjrekar has been snubbed.

There has been no further statement from BCCI themselves, as the president Sourav Ganguly himself declined to speak about the rebuffing of the veteran commentator.

While the IPL 2020 has been postponed for two weeks, there is a possibility of the tournament getting shortened as a result, whereas earlier it was lengthened to 50 matches instead of the regular 44 in the previous editions.

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